CPSC, York International Announce Recall of Gas Furnaces

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #05047) was formally reported on November 15, 2004. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. The Unitary Products Group (UPG) of York International Corp., of York, Pa. is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 226,000 units are affected, a scale large enough to require multi-state distribution tracking.

The documented reason for this recall is: These furnaces can overheat, causing heat-exchanger cracking, burn-through and, in extreme cases, furnace wrapper burn-through. This can lead to heating and possible burning of the drywall and other combustibles adjacen… Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Consumers should not use the heating function of these furnaces until it has been inspected and repaired. Consumers should contact UPG to schedule a free inspection and repair of any furnace involved… — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls, of which 1 were also issued by CPSC. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 22 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.